Creative charity shines in the Lenten gift of
a little 9-year-old girl. Lauren Cobak, a 3rd grader from
Pinecrest Academy, decided to make a different kind of
sacrifice this Lent by donating 12 inches of her hair
to “Locks of Love,” which provides wigs for children who
have lost their hair due to cancer or other medical
procedures. The article below is reprinted with permission from the
February 6, 2008 issue of the Forsyth County News.

Girl plans to give her locks for Lent

By Ben
HolcombeAssociate Editor

Some believers may give up

Lauren Cobak of Pinecrest Academy

meat or sweets for Lent. Pinecrest Academy third-grader Lauren Cobak
is giving up her curls.

For Lent, which
begins today with Ash Wednesday, Cobak is donating about 12
inches of her hair to Locks of Love.

Cobak, 9, plans to have her hair cut later this
week at Salon 9 in southern Forsyth County. "I
felt like I needed to do this for somebody else,"
she said.

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the 40-day
Lenten season when many Christians prepare for the celebration of
Easter, which comes on March 23 this year.

Though Locks of Love is best known for providing wigs
for pediatric cancer patients, the nonprofit organization also provides hairpieces
for children who have experienced hair loss from other long-term
medical problems.

Cobak´s mother, Kimberly, said her daughter
decided on the haircut of her own volition.

"It´s a personal sacrifice," she said. "And it´s so much
more."

It is also a surrender of vanity,
Cobak explained, and a reflection of what Lauren learns in
their Alpharetta home and at Pinecrest, a private Catholic school
in Forsyth County.

"They do different service projects
through the school," Kim Cobak said. "And we´re Catholic, so
we show the children what it is to be good
neighbors ... and help the less fortunate."

Salon
9 owner Dawn Emond, who recently moved to the Alpharetta
area from New York, said she often did Locks of

At the “Locks of Love” salon.

Love cuts in New York, but Cobak will be her
first since coming to Georgia.

"It´s just a
snip," she said. "Then you style [what´s left] the way
they want it."

Cobak and her husband, Bob,
have two other daughters, Taylor, 3, and Sidney, 13 months.
Kim Cobak said both she and her husband lost grandfathers
to lung cancer.

Lauren Cobak, who is involved
in ballet, basketball, acting classes and violin lessons, said she
is actually excited about getting such a drastic haircut.

"I wanted to give it up for people who
don´t have hair," she said. "I wanted to be unselfish."